Year of the Gentlemen
by Arctimon
Summary: A series of one-shots dedicated to the multitude of pairings of Phineas and Ferb across their lives. Some will be a surprise, and some will most definitely be not. In conjunction with the Valentine's Day holiday. The finale, Chapter 12, is now up!
1. Prologue - A Many Spendid Thing

_**Disclaimer: **__All characters of Phineas and Ferb are the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and the Disney Channel. The emotion of love is owned by all...but mastered by few.  
_

_Deep, isn't it?_

* * *

_**Prologue - Love Is A Many Splendid Thing**_

Love is a lot of things.

Love can be slow.

Love can be fast.

Love can be close.

Love can be far.

Love can be the very opposite of what you think it could be.

Love could be the same thing you always thought it was.

Love is holding on for dear life.

Love is knowing when to let go.

Love is hidden, waiting for it to be found.

Love is out in the open, wanting to go back into the shadows.

Love is all of these things.

...Love is none of these things.

And as the music starts playing in your mind, remember this...

Love is whatever you make of it.

...Or make for it.

Let's start the music, shall we?

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** So the somewhat regular people who follow my works know that I have been known to make a few Valentine's Day stories.

Which is fine and all.

This year, I'm going to switch things up a little bit. I had other ideas that I wanted to do instead of Phinbella, so why not bring some other pairings into the mix.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the idea of _Year of the Gentlemen._

Ne-Yo is one of my favorite artists, and _YotG_ is one of my favorite CDs of all time, so the idea is to take the songs (not the lyrics, mind you), take their themes, and mold them with a pairing. Will it all work out? Will our young stalwarts find love in the right places? Will they crash and burn? Will I actually finish a fic for the first time in who knows how long?

...*shrugs*

The only thing I _will_ say is that the actual Phinbella one will not be appearing for a while, so that will force you to read several chapters you don't want to in order to get to the one you want! Diabolical, no?

This will coincide with the actual episode that will happen with Valentine's Day, _Act Your Age_, which...well...I'm going to leave that one alone.

For now.

I have my own take on take on that, but it will have to wait.

Read and review, if you're interested. Chapter One starts tomorrow.


	2. Closer

_**Disclaimer: **__All characters of Phineas and Ferb are the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and the Disney Channel. Sixth grade science class is owned by nobody, because to heck with sixth grade science class.  
_

* * *

_**Chapter 1 - Closer**_

_"Love is spellbinding. It grabs hold and threatens to never let go. The less you get, the more you want. The more you want...the more you need."_

* * *

It was entrancing.

The way the light bounced off of her hair.

The way she smiled without needing any reason.

If he could only just get a little-

"Mr. Horowitz, if you would be so kind as to return to your table, I believe you have an experiment to finish."

Balthazar almost jumped out of his stool. "Sorry, Mr. Ersatz."

Sheepishly, he walked back to his table, ignoring the rest of his classmates as they continued with the exercise. All the while, he was still looking over his shoulder at Holly, the object of his affection.

He never had been able to get the courage to tell her how he felt about her, if only because with all of the proximity came an every growing distance. Even though she was one of the lesser known members of the Fireside Girls, she still had a very large group of friends around her.

Unfortunately, he was not among them.

Not yet, anyway.

Perhaps it wasn't the best time to try this out in the middle of sixth grade science lab.

But hey, what could you do when you were head over heels with someone?

Balthazar took his regular seat in the back of the class. He had finished his lab sheets ages ago, long before anyone else. Being a science-minded kid meant that this was the easiest class of the day.

Didn't help that Holly was in it, of course.

Equal parts smart and equal parts dumb.

He brought the beaker up to his eyes. The liquid inside was rapidly turning an impressive shade of yellow, but it was another opportunity to steal a glance at her. Holly was busy writing down an answer to her sheet, her chemicals mixing together into a lovely blue.

And then she looked up.

Their eyes met for the briefest of moments.

A small smile escaped her lips.

And then she turned away.

Balthazar, in his momentary loss of sanity, almost let go of his beaker. That would have been the fifth desk melted into oblivion by him this year.

"Ahem."

He looked up to see Mr. Ersatz behind him again. "I haven't done anything wrong this time, Professor."

"I didn't say anything," he replied with a smirk. The man held out a stack of papers to the teenager. "Since you've already finished your work, would you be so kind as to deliver these to the main office? I'll give you a pass so that you can go straight to your next class."

He nodded. "Sure thing, sir."

The teacher also handed him a red pass, walking off back to his desk. Balthazar started to gather his things-

"Hey, Balto."

The amount of people that were able to sneak up on him in a ten minute timeframe was impressive. He wasn't thinking about that right now, because he turned around slowly to face...

"Holly, what are you doing over here?"

"I finished up a minute ago, silly." Holly chuckled. "You're not the only one who can breeze through science work." She shuffled her backpack to her other side. "Mr. Ersatz asked me to go with you to the office."

Balthazar glanced at the teacher's desk, where he was busy staring down at some files, seemingly determined not to look in his direction. "Oh...alright, then."

Holly tilted her head to the side. "Are you OK? You look like you're nervous."

"Me? Nah! I'm good. See? Totally fine!" He took the opportunity to try to lug his giant backpack onto his back, and underestimating the weight, almost swung himself into the nearest cabinet.

Holly, sensing trouble, reached out to grab his hand. Luckily, she was able to hang on, righting his position.

It was electric.

He had never actually touched her before. Her skin was cool to the touch, soothing the nervousness in his brain...

Only to ratchet it up rapidly when he realized she hadn't let go of his hand.

Holly grinned. "You need to watch out, Balto. You can knock out a girl with that backpack."

He could only sheepishly smile in response. She took the opportunity to look at the teacher, who was motioning them out of the class. "Come on, we have that thing to take care off." She led the way out of the classroom, Balthazar close behind.

Once outside, she let go of his hand, walking in step beside him. They kept quiet through the trip, which was a good thing, because his brain was going at a million miles a minute.

She had touched him.

He looked down at his hand. It was only as help, but any sort of progress was a starting.

Balthazar nervously looked at his companion, who was looking forward, a slight twinge of pink on his face.

Now was the time.

Now was the start.

There was no time to stop.

He had to get closer.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I think it's always interesting that people think I'm going to _start_ with the Phinbella or Ferbnessa or whatever.

That, people, would be too easy. Gotta give the Ball-Pit Kid some live, amirite?

..._Anyhoots_, I'm sure this is the first time anyone has ever written Balthazar in a fic, so I have a little leeway with this.

The feeling you get when the person you crush on is near, even when they're not aware of it, is a very familiar feeling to me. I had crushes on a few people in middle and high school, but I never had the guts to tell them how I felt. So you can say I'm projecting a little bit of me onto Balthazar.

Now, whether I think he can complete the process in another story is...well...another story.

Hopefully, this is a good start for you guys. Next chapter will be another lesser-written about pairing, and we might have to ratchet up the action a little bit.

And I do have a Big Idea about that.

Read and review if you like. Until tomorrow, ladies and gents.


	3. Nobody

_**Disclaimer: **__All characters of Phineas and Ferb are the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and the Disney Channel._ _The '70s are not owned by me, because I wasn't around then._

* * *

_**Chapter 2 - Nobody**_

_"Love is unique. It cannot be compared. It cannot be duplicated. A relationship is one of a kind...even in the shadow of others around it."_

* * *

"What in the world is that?"

He looked up at the enormous tent in the backyard of the Flynn-Fletcher household, the reds and yellows in stark contrast to the nighttime sky.

The girl on his arm giggled. "This is simply a going away present that Candace's brothers did for us. Now that we're heading off to college, we're not going to be able to be around here a lot of the time."

"So the idea was a giant tent?"

"No, stupid." Stacy punched his shoulder. "It's what's inside."

Coltrane noticed the flashing lights jutting their way out of the tent flaps and below the bottom. "I'm not sure about this."

"Just because you haven't been around to see these doesn't mean they should drive you away." Stacy grabbed his hand and led him through the gate. "C'mon, let's go. Candace is already inside."

As they got closer to the tent, the music was getting louder. The disco beats throbbed in his ear as they neared the entrance. They entered and audibly gasped.

The inside was most definitely bigger than the outside, as per the usual Phineas and Ferb Big Idea. The lawn was replaced with a flashing dance floor, a table with a DJ table on the far side. Manning it was Ferb, his green afro bobbing up and down to the beat of the music. Most of the occupant were his fellow classmates dancing to the songs. Coltrane thought he saw a glimpse of Stacy's younger sister, Ginger, dancing in the back with Baljeet and Holly, but the mass of people cut his vision off.

"Hey man! Glad you got here!"

Coltrane turned to see Jeremy and Candace walking toward him with two drinks. Candace had on white jeans and a bright pink shirt. Jeremy had a white jumpsuit which clashed horribly with his bright blonde hair.

"You just _had_ to go with the classic '70s, didn't you?" he smirked.

"Well, Candace wanted me to put something 'rainbow-y' on, but I wasn't having any of it." Jeremy looked down at his best friend's attire. "Stacy couldn't convince you to dress up?"

"Nope. Not the dancing type."

"Yeah, some of the other didn't either. I think Drummond pulled an afro out of his closet, though." He craned his neck to try to find his fellow band mate. "Nah, can't see anything in this sea of afros."

Stacy poked Coltrane in the side, garnering his attention. "Watch my coat for me, will you?"

"Why? Where are you going-"

And it was this exact moment that he saw what Stacy was wearing.

She had been wearing her coat the entire time because of the slight chill outside, but with all of the lights and bodies inside the tent, it was no longer necessary. Stacy had on a short purple shirt, the thick straps hanging off the edge of her shoulder. Her midriff was visible as well, a star-shaped belt buckle fastened to the top of her pants.

Candace squealed. "Man, you are really rockin' it tonight, girl!"

"Well, disco's kind of my thing." Stacy shrugged, enjoying the stare she was getting from her boyfriend. "You have my cap?"

The redhead slapped the purple artist's cap on her best friend's head. "Of course! Now c'mon, the party's waiting for us!"

Stacy turned to Jeremy and Coltrane. "You boys have fun now! We're off to mingle!" With that, they entered the mass of people, already deep into their own conversation.

"...You know, if you keep your mouth open like that for much longer, we'll have to shut it with a vice."

Coltrane, just realizing he was in public again, snapped his mouth shut. "Sorry, I was...distracted."

"Mmhmm." Jeremy took a sip from his drink, the smirk still apparent on his face.

"I've never seen her like this before."

"What, act like a girl?"

"No, it's just..." Coltrane racked his mind to find the words. "She's so relaxed. Carefree. Not even worried."

"Wish Candace would take a note from her."

"Hmm?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I'm just saying. Candace could stand to learn a thing or two from her. It was Stacy's idea to have this party. Candace's brothers were more than happy to make it happen. Even now..." He waved in the general direction of where the girls walked. "She's having problems loosening up. Phineas and Ferb, college. It's getting to her. At least Stacy knows how to rock out and let loose."

The girls came back into view, dancing up a storm as Coltrane thought about Jeremy's words.

"She's a keeper, buddy. You of all people should know that. You guys have broken up so many times, you could make a jigsaw puzzle."

Coltrane glanced over at him. "That's the best analogy you could come up with?"

"Hey, I've had too much punch. Cut me some slack."

He laughed at the joke. "Yeah, I know. I'm reminded how lucky I am every day."

His mind suddenly clicked.

"You know what? I think I'm going to go join her. Have some fun, you know?" Coltrane handed Stacy's coat off to Jeremy, pulling out a pair of shades from his pocket.

"I thought you weren't the dancing type."

Coltrane smirked. "I'm not." He looked over at Stacy, the beaming smile seemingly paving the way to her. He put on his sunglasses, the beat now taking over.

"But I think I can make an exception this time."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** (This chapter's coming out kind of late because of computer issues, so apologies for that. Here's to hoping this won't throw my schedule off too much.)

...Still not going with the commonly written pairings. Evil, yes, I know.

I've always found the idea of Stacy and Coltrane's relationship interesting, especially since they are the (to take a TvTrope page) teen Beta Couple. They don't get as much spotlight or screentime because Jeremy and Candace get the bulk of it, but I still think it's important for them to get the focus from time to time.

Hence this chapter.

People might remember that my second story ever was a Stacy/Coltrane fic. It was fairly well received, and to be quite honest, it's one of the fics that I'm the most proud of. It breaks the mold, so to speak. It's different. It's not of the norm.

It's unique.

And now it's clicking in your mind.

...Sometimes I think I think too much.

Tomorrow's chapter will be a more common pairing, I swear. Actually...the characters already appeared in this chapter.

_Interesting._

Next song, next chapter will be up tomorrow. Read and review, if you like. Until next time, people.


	4. Single

_**Disclaimer: **__P&amp;F is owned by other people. I __**owned **__my prom night, just not the one below._

* * *

_**Chapter 3 - Single**_

_"Love is reliable. It doesn't always come around at the times you want it, but it most definitely comes around at the exact moment you need it."_

* * *

Prom is always a time in a young person's life where they need to let loose and have fun. Don't worry about the rules (most of them, anyway), leave your worries behind, and for one night, enjoy yourself.

Or at least, that's what Baljeet was _trying_ to tell himself.

"I do not know how you roped me into this, Buford. I am not really one to mingle with people."

Buford, of all of his friends, had been the one to convince him to come to the high school dance. It will be a good time, he said. Everyone will be there, he said.

There may be slight shenanigans, he said.

In jest.

...Maybe.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. There was dancing, there was loud music, there was a slight mishap with Irving and a disco ball.

Other than that, Baljeet was actually enjoying himself.

"Hey, what's Ginger doing over there?"

Until now.

He followed the bully's finger to see Ginger Hirano over on the other side of the gym. She was sitting in one of the many chairs stationed near the wall, looking very pretty in her purple dress, yet very downtrodden.

"Where's that dude that she was hangin' with for the past month? Musta' stood her up."

Baljeet narrowed his eyes. He had heard from the grapevine that Ginger had indeed been seeing someone at school. The relationship was still in its infancy, but right now, it appeared to be having its problems. Ginger had talked all week about her and him enjoying each other's company at prom.

So much for that.

Buford noticed the grim look on his face. "You need more punch."

"I am not having any more of that gruesome liquid." Baljeet adjusted the hat over his head. "I'm going to go talk to her."

The bully shrugged him off, swigging another cup down. "Whateva'. I need to find Fanboy and his other disco ball." With that, he was out of sight.

As he made his way over to Ginger, Baljeet was starting to get nervous again. It was (now) painfully obvious that she had a massive crush on him for the majority of school. Things were less awkward between them now, but there was a time where they couldn't even look at each other without blushing madly.

Baljeet had adjusted much faster then she had. With the news of her boyfriend, however, he was glad that she had managed to move on.

Part of his mind said that anyway. The other half...didn't like that very much.

The mini-retrospective came to a end, as he came to the side of Ginger's chair. She was still staring ahead, zoning everything out.

"Hello, Ginger."

A small jump from her sent her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "Hey, Baljeet."

"You do not seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Me? Nah." Ginger waved her hand. "I'm fine."

He took the chair next to her. "Ginger, you have never been good at lying."

Baljeet watched the couples dance by as the song changed to something more slow-paced. "Where is your date at?"

"My date?"

"Yes. The one that Holly could not stop talking about. She said that he would be bringing you here on his arm in a motorcycle. I was pretty sure she was overblowing the second part, though."

"He's running late. Said something about having to take care of his mom. Hasn't called me since a few hours ago when I was busy setting up the decorations."

Baljeet rubbed his chin in thought. Something was definitely up here. He had _been_ there helping with the setup (again, Buford's intervention). He supposed he would have to tread carefully with his next few statements.

"He is not coming tonight, is he?"

She whirled around to face him. "What makes you think that?

"Well..." Baljeet looked off to the far side of the gym. "For one, I would think that you would be at least trying to call him, if he was off somewhere else."

Ginger said nothing.

"Secondly, you haven't been looking at your phone at all tonight. I would be willing to bet that you actually don't have your phone on you, since you've been in here all day."

She raised her eyebrow at him.

"Third, you haven't even said his name tonight, which leads me to believe that..."

"...That what?"

Baljeet shuffled his feet. "That he's not even real."

The smile she gave him was not one of relief, but one of defeat. "You're too smart for your own good. You know that, right? Even Holly fell for it."

"I been told that multiple times, yes." Baljeet thought for a moment. "Let me ask you something. Why go through all of that trouble? You must know that someone was going to figure it out."

"I didn't think it would be you, of all people."

"Me?"

Ginger blushed slightly. "Yes. It always has to be you, doesn't it?"

Now Baljeet was the one avoiding her gaze.

Ginger looked away, hands clasped together. "Look, I know what you're thinking. If I made him up, why am I even here to begin with? I couldn't just _not _come. It's prom. Plus, all of the other girls are here. It was either come or stay at home alone."

Sounded like a very familiar situation to Baljeet.

"Come with me, Ginger."

"What?"

"I probably should dance once tonight. It is prom, after all." Baljeet was standing up, offering his hand to the Asian girl. "Besides, ff Buford were over here, he would probably be telling us to pull our heads out of our butts."

"But I thought-"

"You think too much for your own good, Ginger."

The grin of Baljeet's face let her know that he was only speaking in jest. Relieved, she grasped his hand, and together they made their way out to the dance floor.

"Why are you doing this, Baljeet?" Ginger said, turning to face him. "I thought you weren't a social person."

'I am not."

He grasped her waist, causing her to shudder.

"But for at least a few minutes, I think that you should have someone make you feel important."

Now the blush was coming on full force. "Baljeet...thank you."

"Do not mention it." Baljeet's voice shook as her arms wrapped around his neck, sending shivers down his spine. "Besides, I think this is one thing we both needed tonight."

Ginger started to step to the beat, Baljeet not far behind. She laid her head on his shoulder, the smile returning to her face.

Yes, the worries for the both of them were finally out of their minds.

Even only for a song.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **This one came out a little more literal than the previous ones, at least on the surface.

Baljeet/Ginger is quickly becoming one of my favorite pairings to write about. It helps that I've been writing their standalone fic for almost two years now, so there's that.

I've said it before in one of my old journal entries: I think Baljeet and Ginger are a lot alike. They're both a little too smart for their own good. Even with all of their intelligence, they don't always take the most logical step. And they both need toreel it in a bit (Baljeet with trying to do everything under the sun, and Ginger with her overplayed rationalization of her crush on him).

So let's put them in one of the best situations possible...prom night.

I sure wrote this a lot better than what happened on _my _prom night.

...But that's another story.

I am going to have to double up on chapters at some point if I want the last chapter to hit on Valentine's Day. I'm just not sure what days that will happen. All I know is that _next _chapter should be intriguing.

Want a hint? Sure, it's Vanessa...

And someone who's not Ferb.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, people.


	5. Mad

_**Disclaimer: **__Phineas and Ferb are not owned by me, and are thus owned by Dan, Jeff, and Disney._

* * *

_**Chapter 4 - Mad**_

_"Love is frustrating. Not everything can go according to plan, nor should it. The obstacles in a relationship serve a dual purpose: to test it...and to strengthen it."_

* * *

THWACK!

The cell phone went careening into the wall, almost breaking apart at the hinge. Its thrower let out an aggravated growl, the pillow muffling the majority of the noise.

It wasn't fair. Why was it that every time she found someone she liked, her dad had to ruin it?

And then there was _him_.

Yes, their relationship was still in the early stages, but he was a guy. He was suppose to know what to do.

Of course, he was having his own problems as well. His dad was just as bad as hers, if not worse. Controlling, always wanting him to do what he wanted and not what his own son wanted to do.

Maybe that's why Vanessa had been attracted to Monty almost immediately.

But as of a moment ago, it wasn't all rainbows anymore.

Not that she _did_ rainbows, but still.

It all started when-

...Wait a minute.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes in thought. What exactly were they fighting about?

Was it about his dad? Was it about _her_ dad?

She gritted her teeth, rubbing her temple with her fingers. Why was she mad? She couldn't even remember.

She walked over to her phone near her dresser. It still looked like it was working; the screen had a crack in it, but otherwise it appeared fine. Taking it back over to her bed, she went to her contacts, hovering over the "M.M." that she had filed Monty under.

The one time her dad had seen her contacts list, he had thought it stood for "Maniac Mandy" or something like that. It was probably for the best for him to keep thinking that.

Vanessa dialed the number, the tone ringing loudly in the room.

"_...I feel like I'm about to get chewed out some more._"

Monty had a right to be cautious. If only Vanessa could actually remember what he had to be cautious about.

"I'm sorry, Monty. I'm just being a pain in the butt again. It's just..." Vanessa held her head in her hands.

"_Don't worry about it, Vanessa. These things happen. If it helps, I would love nothing better than for __**my**__ dad to let me be. But...you know how these things go._"

She sighed. "I do, unfortunately."

WHAM!

The sounds of her father and a secret agent platypus fighting started to come from the other room, resulting in a sigh from Vanessa. "Look, Monty, I have to let you go. My dad's off doing weird stuff again."

Silence.

"Monty?"

"_Sorry,_" his voice came over the line. "_My dad just came into my room. He still thinks I'm doing agency work."_

"...In your bedroom?"

"_Well...you know._"

Vanessa couldn't help but giggle at his response. "Do you want to meet up at Steam Noir tomorrow?"

"_Sounds good to me._"

"I'll talk to you later, then."

"_Oh, and Vanessa?"_

"Hmm?"

A couple of seconds passed.

"_I...don't even recall what our argument was. Is it weird to try to apologize for something I can't remember?"_

Another loud thump came from the other room, but now Vanessa wasn't paying any attention to it.

"Monty, something tells me this is only going to be the tip of the iceberg of 'weird'."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** (Hooray, website problems.)

The original concept for this story was in the works for a very long time. How long? This chapter was suppose to feature Johnny. Yeah, _that's_ how long.

Monty/Vanessa is a rather recent thing, so I had to go back and watch a few episodes with them in it to get a feel for their relationship. Or...whatever they call their thing now. That's why this chapter is shorter compared to the others.

Overbearing dads and situations stemming from opposite upbringings are interesting for these two. Evil is of course not really the _best _word to be using for Doof and Vanessa, but it's nonetheless something to compare to Monty. I think it would be fascinating to see where this relationship would go, with Johnny (the opposite of Monty in many aspects) out of the picture.

Looking to get another chapter up today, since I missed a few days later in the week. Hopefully the site won't hiccup on me again.

Read and review, if you like. See you later.


	6. Miss Independent

_**Disclaimer:**__ P&amp;F is D, S, and DC's biznass. Still don't own prom._

* * *

_**Chapter 5 - Miss Independent**_

_"Love is admiration. Appreciating everything that they do for you and others is an important part in making sure that you appreciate them."_

* * *

"Will you hold that ladder still? I'm trying to hang this sign."

"If ya hadn't tried to straighten it for the past five minutes, you woulda' had it done by now!"

Buford didn't know why he had signed up for the prom preparations. It involved a lot of lifting, moving, and general pain in the butt instructions given out by one very loud, brown haired high schooler.

Oh yeah, now he remembered.

Because Adyson had asked him to.

"You gonna be done any time this century, woman?"

The smack on top of his head was not the answer he was looking for. "Give me a minute."

Buford sighed. Again, not the thing that he wanted to do with his time.

But she had come to him the day before and asked him to help with the decorations. They needed someone strong, she said. No one else in the troop would be able to come, she said.

And Adyson had stared at her with him with those puppy-dog green eyes of hers and pouted.

"_Pleeeeease, Buford! I'll make it worth your while!"_

"Hey!"

Buford's vision of her face snapped back to reality with her actual face appearing in his vision. It looked like she had finally finished her meticulous sign positioning.

"Are you done wandering off into la-la land? I have _so _much more stuff I need to do!" Waving her hands above her, she was off to the back wall of the gymnasium.

The bully followed behind her, returning back to his thoughts. Why was it that whenever she needed something done, she came to him? Of all people? She had a whole troop of disposable manpower to pool from. She had an entire committee of students to pull resources. Why did it seem like he was taking all of the responsibility?

"Sweets."

"Where on Earth did I put all of those streamers? Pedro!" She yelled to a boy across the way. "Go find the streamers!"

"Sweets!"

"_What?!"_

Adyson had suddenly stopped, her arms like sticks at her sides. Buford had almost rammed into her, but caught himself at the last moment.

"Man, you sure know how to order a guy around."

"Buford, I don't have time for your shenanigans. What do you need?"

"For ya to take a second and breathe."

She didn't move for a moment. He thought that all of the tension was going to cause her brain to explode. As interesting as that would have been, he figured it wouldn't be too good for her long term health.

"Look..." Adyson wheeled on him, her shoulders shaking. "I have less than five hours to get all of this together, and a lot of the committee bailed on me. They're all off dress shopping and dolling up for tonight, and I'm stuck here. I managed to get some of the troop here (she pointed off to Holly and Ginger, who were busy setting up tables), but I can't ask everyone. Isabella's got Phineas things to take care of, Katie's off with the photographer, and...and..."

She trailed off, looking more stressed out than ever. "_IfIjusthadafewmorepeopleandmoretimethiswouldbe-_"

"Sweets!"

Adyson looked up to see Buford's hands on her shoulders. "Ya need to calm down a bit. It's not the end of the world, ya know."

"Buford, _you're_ not the President of the Prom Committee. You're not the one with the pressure to get this done."

"Yeah, but I am the Prez of the 'Take A Chill Pill' club!"

"That's...not a real club."

"Ya'd be surprised."

She was still looking at him oddly, so Buford continued on. "Look, Sweets, I know that ya doing a great job on these shindigs here. Ya been the only one who seems like they're giving a crud about this whole thing. _And _ya been doing all of this will almost no help at all!"

Adyson looked away, her cheeks blushing.

"Ya think _I_ coulda done any of this? I woulda given up in the first five minutes! I know for a fact that ya the only person who coulda made this happen. Isabella included. It's something to behold, really."

She still wasn't looking at him. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

A long moment of silence hung between the two of them.

"Ya gonna be OK?" Buford asked.

"Yeah."

He let go of her shoulders and crossed his arms. "A'ight, now that _that's_ done, what do ya need me to do?"

Adyson's demeanor brightened immediately. "OK, so the tablecloths needs to be washed, the lights adjusted, someone needs to roll in the disco ball..."

"Whoa! Timeout, Sweets!" Buford interrupted. "Didn't we just have a heart to heart moment about this?"

"As a wiser person than me once said, 'Ain't nobody got time for that'." Adyson started walking off toward the entrance. "Wait right here; I'll go get the cloths."

"Just because I appreciate what ya doing doesn't me ya need to order me around like a mule!"

Right before she turned into the hallway, he yelled out at her again.

"_Ya owe me a dance, Sweets!"_

Every single person in the gym turned to face Buford, his hand still cupped around his mouth.

"Oh, _now _y'all are paying attention!"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I feel like I should have said this when I first started this story, but whatever.

For the people who are waiting for the actual Phineas/Isabella fic, that will not happen until the very last chapter, on Valentine's Day. Two reasons.

One, I'm evil.

Two...I don't really have another reason.

The last fic I did with these two have very similar traits with this one: stubbornness, hostile back-and-forths. That's what these two come down to. But as I wrote in the beginning, there is a level of admiration that I feel Buford has for Adyson, the workaholic of the troop. We know that _he's_ not known for being passionate about stuff (except for bullying and French, if _Summer Belongs to You_ is any indication).

Tomorrow should be the last doubled day for chapters. Which is good, because I really don't like doing it. Plus, the last four chapters are ones that I want to stand out on their own.

Until next time, people. Be sure to leave a review if you like.


	7. Why Does She Stay?

_**Disclaimer: **__You'd think people who know the drill by now? Eh, to heck with it. Let's see if they do._

* * *

_**Chapter 6 - Why Does She Stay?**_

"_Love is_ _lucky. To see it, to grab it, to hold it...and to keep it. One wrong choice and it could all come tumbling down. Be thankful when it doesn't."_

* * *

It was all up to chance.

If it wasn't for his father's insistent pushing, he never would have made the trip to America.

Without that trip, he never would have met the woman of his dreams.

She had just came off of the bus, too busy rifling through her purse to notice him. He had just finished up a meeting with a local antique business, waiting for the same bus.

Five minutes later, and he would have never seen her.

The first conversation between Linda and Lawrence was not going to go down in the record books as the most awkward, but it definitely wasn't smooth. A British businessman and a ex-pop star didn't have much in common to begin with. But after the switching of numbers, he felt like he was on the right track.

The first date was almost a disaster. The restaurant he had chosen decided that it was the perfect night to try fancy tableside cooking. The chef, being overzealous, started slicing and dicing meat, flipping his knife for extra flair.

Had he not miscalculated his utensil, it never would have slashed his arm, and the trip to the hospital would have been completely unnecessary.

They spent all night talking, finding solace in that they were both single parents. His son had trouble being social, while her daughter was busy shadowing her brother so much that she was worried about her health.

Without that knife, it would have never happened.

The first meetup of the kids almost didn't take place. Linda was running late to his house, and Lawrence was busy trying to get back with the groceries needed to whip up a dinner for the ages.

One stop light later, and their cars would have passed right by each other.

Instead, they went _into_ each other.

The two would retell the story to their kids for many years to come, with Linda's first reaction being to uncontrollably laugh. The bystanders stared at her with confusion, but Lawrence couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

Insurance information was traded over dinner, and well as toys between Phineas and Ferb, who had hit it off immediately.

A few choice words, and their relationship would have ended a long time ago.

The argument had come on so suddenly, with her talking about her future as a singer, and his career just taking off in the antique business.

Linda had walked out the door, telling her that her kids needed her to be home. The disdain in her voice was imminent.

Lawrence watched her leave, still angry. However, the point was clear: he needed to apologize.

So he did it the best way he could. He called up a bookie friend of his to get tickets to Love Handel's farewell tour. He lured her to the fields under false pretenses. It almost didn't work.

He was very, very lucky that it did.

They made up, they got married, and many years later, Lawrence still considered himself to be the luckiest man in the world.

All he had to do was take a chance.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Oh hey, look. Another pairing that almost never gets anything written about it. Also, it's the reason why this one is shorter than the rest.

Being the parents of the main characters sometimes gets them shoved into the background, but I'm glad that both Linda and Lawrence get at least a couple of episodes for them, if only for their singing ability.

Or lip-syncing ability, in the case of Linda.

In other news, I'm not sure if listing two chapters in one day is doing very well, but I'm a stubborn guy. Pretty sure people caught on to that.

The next chapter has a pairing with a character I've already done a chapter with. And honestly, I like this one the most so far. Who is it?

…Find out in a few hours.

Until next time, read and review.


	8. Fade Into The Background

_**Disclaimer:** Weddings are weird._

_...Just saying._

_Oh yeah, I still don't own anything._

* * *

_**Chapter 7 - Fade Into The Background**_

_"Love is a compromise. Giving and taking for a common consensus is key to any relationship, even if it means removing yourself from said consensus."_

* * *

It was a lovely reception, he thought that much. He would have to give his regards to her wedding planner afterward.

He sat at a far table, holding a glass of wine in his hands. Turning twenty-one did have its advantages when it came to weddings.

Maybe now he could drown himself in his sorrows.

Ferb knew that he had missed his chance a long time ago. He just couldn't place when. Maybe it was in Paris, when she was with her father. Maybe it was during the pharmacist outbreak of so long ago.

The only thing he knew now was that she had walked down the aisle to marry who he assumed to be a perfectly nice and gentle human being.

And that being wasn't him.

He was never one to be vindictive. Things happened for a reason. He and his brother built things. They went again. Candace never busted them. It was a circle of life.

Ferb took another sip of the wine. It wasn't bad; he had only had alcohol once before, when Phineas helped him built a gigantic distiller. It took some getting use to.

"_Ferb! I'm so glad you could make it!"_

Vanessa's greeting came flooding back to him. It was the first time they talked in years. She had just taken a break from dancing with her parents, fanning herself with her hand.

"_Are you enjoying yourself?"_

Yes, he had said. It was the first wedding he had ever been to.

"_Isn't Phineas married yet?"_

Not until next year.

"_What about Candace?"_

Oh yeah, he had forgotten that one. It had been such a long time ago.

"_I'm sure she would enjoy her own brother forgetting her wedding."_

Never mind the fact that he wasn't in his right mind, but he certainly wasn't going to tell her that.

"_I'm ready to head out onto the floor again! I'll see you around, Ferb!"_

With that, she was back to her groom, highstepping off to whatever song was playing. Ferb couldn't care which one it was.

All he could do was stare at Vanessa.

She had been beautiful in her dress. She would've looked good in anything, really. An outdoor wedding helped too, with the sunlight dancing off of the jewelry.

Holy crap, why had he even come to begin with?

_Because she's your friend._

Friend. Something that he never wanted to use in relation to Vanessa.

_Because she invited you and everyone else in the family. You're obligated to come._

Man, his internal monologues were getting tiresome very quickly. If only he had something that would stop his constant thinking.

Ferb spotted a bottle of wine at the neighboring table and raised an eyebrow. He turned to look back at his glass.

...Yep, this definitely wasn't going to be enough.

He got up, walked over to the table, and grabbed the bottle, ready to take a giant swig from it-

When a hand suddenly appeared, grabbing his wrist.

"Bro, I think you've had enough for today."

He narrowed his eyes, the red hair the only detail he could make out of his brother.

"Time for us to go, Ferb."

"But-"

His brother's hands almost lifted him off the chair by themselves. Not having a choice, he let Phineas lead him to the door.

"Don't do something you're going to regret, dude."

He was right, of course. Ferb's body had almost launched into actions that his brain would have most certainly disapproved of.

He took one last look out on the floor.

_You're happy for her._

He wasn't happy at all.

_She deserves this._

With himself.

But true to his nature, he stayed silent.

Perhaps that was the best thing for everyone involved.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **In case you didn't get it from the above story, I'm going to say it here.

I'm not a fan of the Ferb/Vanessa pairing.

Of course, after tonight's episode (and based off possible spoilers that may or may not be true because these things are running about willy-nilly the closer we get to D-Day), it may not matter whether I like it or not.

I've been asked about it before, and people think it's the age issue. It's not that. Mostly.

It's all moot, of course, because the creators can do whatever the chuff they want, but I think Vanessa and Ferb live in two different worlds. Ferb's got his inventions and kid world, and Vanessa's in her teen/evil-kinda-not-really world.

Just my opinion, of course. Feel free to agree or disagree.

So because I'm an idiot and can't properly count to twelve, there will have to be another double chapter day. Haven't decided which day it will be. All I know is I'm tired from writing all day.

Read and review, if you like. Until tomorrow, people.


	9. So You Can Cry

_**Disclaimer: **__Phineas and Ferb are owned by the owners. The watchers only watch._

* * *

_**Chapter 8 - So You Can Cry**_

"_Love is a risk. When things go wrong, lessons should be learned. Risks should be taken, because they show what we should really appreciate...as well as who."_

* * *

Jeremy could clearly see that she was suffering.

He was unfortunately a witness to the very public breakup that his friend had during school. And it being middle school, the populace was their own special brand of cruel.

He had staved off the worst of it, but not before Candace ran off, bawling her eyes out.

Luckily, it was so close to the end of the day that he was able to make an excuse to run after her, but by the time he had stepped outside the school doors, she was gone.

A quick phone call and a beeline toward her house confirmed Jeremy's suspicions. There she was, her legs huddled against her body, still crying.

"Hey, Candace."

She didn't even look up at him. "Hey, Jeremy."

He closed the distance between them, stepping up to the porch. "Are you alright?"

"No."

Good, now the obvious questions were out of the way. "He was stupid to do that in front of everyone."

No answer.

Jeremy sat down next to her. "If you had answered your phone earlier, you would have heard my idea. We don't have any more school until Monday. Let's go do something. We can go to the mall."

"I don't feel like it."

Despite himself, he was getting a little annoyed. "C'mon, Candace, you can't stay here forever."

Now she looked at him. "Jeremy, I just got my heart broken. I was humiliated in front of the entire school. Forgive me if I don't feel up for anything."

"You came to school last year in nothing but a bathrobe."

"That was different. My brothers built an invisibility ray."

Jeremy wasn't sure how to respond to that. Instead, he stayed silent to give her another few moments to collect herself.

"Why does everything hate me?"

The questions startled him. "Candace, not everything hates you. I don't hate you."

She sniffled. "You don't?"

"Of course I don't."

Candace set her chin on her knees. "You don't have to stay here, Jeremy. I'll be fine."

"Actually, you're not, but I appreciate the effort."

"I don't need your help. I can sit here and mope until I melt into a pile of-"

Candace stopped suddenly as she saw Jeremy stood up, taking a couple of steps away from her. He took a look at the sky and opened his arms wide.

"You want me to hide the sun?"

It suddenly started to get darker.

"You want me to bring on the rain?"

The sounds of water droplets began to hit the pavement.

"If you want to miserable for the rest of the day, I can do that."

The rain was now picking up considerably.

"But I don't _want_ to do that!"

He ran back up to her, grabbing her arms tightly.

"It's not going to help anything! I know you better than anyone, Candace! You're better than this!"

Now she was crying for entirely different reasons. "You really think so?"

"I know so!" Jeremy pulled her into a hug. "Look, I know it's bad right now. It stinks. But you're stronger than this. You don't _need _him to make you happy. You can do that on your own."

He loosened his grip on her, staring into her eyes. "And I will be there to watch you every step of the way. Count on it."

Candace's face was a complete one-eighty from ten minutes ago. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were staring to him, a smile on her face.

"Thank you, Jeremy. I really needed that."

"No problem." He patted her shoulder. "Come on, how about that trip to the mall, then?"

Squealing her consent, she gave him a quick hug and ran into the house.

Jeremy stepped back into the rain. It was a soothing one, ready to wash away all of the problems and insecurities from earlier...

Oh yeah. The weather.

He gave a quick nod to the Flynn-Fletcher window, where Phineas and Ferb were holding two identical portable consoles. They pressed a few buttons...

And then it started snowing.

Phineas stared at his screen, confused. Ferb poked him in the side, pointing to something outside of the window frame. A look of realization came on the redhead's face, and he ran off.

A moment later, the sun came back out.

Good thing he had called beforehand.

It was always a little bit risky when it came to hanging out with Candace, he thought as Candace came back out, her purse by her side...

But with risk came reward, and Jeremy was most certainly feeling like a winner.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Going very literal with this one.

Anyone who has ever listened to this song knows that.

I really like the Candace/Jeremy pairing, which is weird since it's already so canon that not a lot of attention is payed to it. Of course, it's always nice to go back into their (fanon) past and try to find the moment things started to click for Jeremy.

Remember, the relationship goes both ways, and I would like to believe that he started liking Candace a long time ago (which is why this is set in middle school).

And a little help from her cool younger brothers always helps.

I didn't have enough time to double up today. It will have to be either tomorrow or Thursday, since I would like to keep the Phinbella chapter by itself.

If you're keeping score at home, we're still missing a couple of Fireside Girls, and well as a couple of the guys. Also, one of the guys will have two chapters in this story.

But _which one_?

The madness is killing you, isn't it? :P

Read and review, if you like. Until tomorrow, people.


	10. Part Of The List

_**Disclaimer: **All characters of Phineas and Ferb are the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and the Disney Channel._

* * *

_**Chapter 9 - Part Of The List**_

"_Love is enduring. In the face of hardship, to people can find solace in each other's company. It doesn't matter if that time is temporary...or already over."_

* * *

It was hard to sleep at thirty thousand feet in the air.

Normally, Django wouldn't have minded the trips around the world with his dad, but his mind was on other things.

His dad was asleep in the seat beside him, the newspaper in his lap. Django himself had been staring at the same page of his book for the past half hour, his concentration waning.

He missed her.

He always missed her; that much was true. But after a week long trip to the West Coast, Django had wanted to spend at least the day he got back with Milly.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Beppo had gotten the call to come to a gallery opening in Japan, and since it was his feature, they had to be out by the same day.

So there they were.

Django closed his book. No way he was going to get anywhere in that. He set it under his seat, his fingers brushing up against something else.

He raised his eyebrow.

Slowly, the brown-haired boy pulled out his pocket book. It was very innocuous, the black cover rather worn from all of the traveling he had done. He opened it up, settled on a page somewhere in the middle, and was just about to look for a pen.

"Here."

He whipped around to see his dad holding one out for him. "Thanks, Dad. I thought you were asleep?"

"I was. But I should probably save some shut-eye for when we land in Japan."

Django took the pen and leaned back into his seat, thinking about what he was going to write.

"What _is_ that book, anyway? You've never showed me it before."

"You'd laugh at me if I told you."

"Django," Beppo started, staring down at the top of his head. "I'm your father. I'd only laugh at it if it was extremely funny or extremely stupid, and I don't think you're capable of either thing."

His son looked back down at his book. "It's...sort of a memory book."

"Hmm?"

Django let out a low sigh. "I just want to remind myself of things that I haven't been able to see for very long. Write little things here and there."

"And by things you mean...people?"

He nodded.

"And by people, you mean certain people?"

His face was getting red.

Beppo chuckled. "You know, Django, you really can't fool me. I know who it's about. I think it's fine that you do that. What do you write about?"

Not wanting to have this conversation with his dad, of all people, he nevertheless continued. "What I miss about her, mostly."

His dad's demanor changed, unbeknownst to him. He straightened up in his chair as Django went on.

"I miss her laugh."

Beppo narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

"I miss our chats at night."

He reached his hand into his pocket.

"It's hard to choose sometimes. I just miss...her." His gaze went back out the window into the night sky. "It's stupid, I know."

"I don't think it's stupid at all."

Django turned back to his dad, who was holding out his hand to him. He looked down to see...an identical book to his, same worn cover and all.

"...Whoa."

Beppo leafed through the pages with his fingers absentmindedly. "I will let you know that I've been doing this a little bit longer that you have. Mine's almost full."

"...What do you miss most about Mom?"

His father grinned. "Her smile. It made me feel like everything was going to be OK. It made the long trips and visits worthwhile." He tapped the top of his notebook with his finger.

"I miss her, Dad."

"As do I, Django." He set the book on his lap, turning his full attention back to his son. "It's natural to miss the ones we love. But I want you to remember something. Knowing Milly, she's probably doing the exact same thing for you. Appreciate each other so that you can make the time you have that much better."

His hands started shaking has his grip tightened on his book.

"Appreciate it before it's gone."

"Dad?"

Beppo hadn't realized that he was almost ready to tear his armrest in half before collecting himself. "Sorry." He stared straight ahead. "There will be a time where we won't have to be away from home for so long. It's just not right now. I will do my best to make it sooner rather than later."

Django put his hand on his dad's arm. "I know, Dad. I can handle it."

"I know you can." He looked at his watch, noticing the time. "We have about an hour before we land. How about we use it to our advantage?" He took out another pen from his shirt pocket and held it in the air. "I'm sure we can pass the time with this."

Django beamed up at his dad. "For Milly and Mom?"

Beppo smiled. "For Milly and Mom."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** And this will pretty much be the only time I will ever write about the parents that are missing from the show. I won't be going into anymore detail about it, so don't ask.

I'm not usually one to write about things like this. The mystery of Phineas's dad, Ferb's mom, Isabella's dad, so on and so forth. In terms of family, they are who they are, and that's what should be the focus.

Just this once, though, it made me think.

It's always difficult to be apart from the ones you care about. Trust me, I've been down that road before. It's not fun. And now that we're getting closer to Valentine's Day, it's always good to try to connect (or reconnect) with those people and enjoy the time you have (or will have).

...Getting sentimental again. Must be the late nights. Or the alcohol. Or both.

...Probably both.

Thursday will be a double day, followed by the finale on Friday. You all know who's coming for the finale. But who is it going to be for the next two chapters? Find out tomorrow.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	11. Back To What You Know

_**Disclaimer: **__So yeah...things. I don't have them._

_(Guys...I think I'm running out of disclaimers to use. :P)__**  
**_

* * *

_**Chapter 10 – Back To What You Know**_

"_Love is a distraction. Whether you need it to avoid others or use it as the main one,it's very easy to get lost in it. If you're good, it won't overtake you. If you aren't...well..."_

"I don't want to see you again!"

"Oh c'mon, don't be like that. I said I was sorry!"

In true fairy tail, fashion, the gentleman of the story was yelling up to the fair maiden's window, desperate to retain any sort of dignity.

Then again, dignity wasn't really Irving's strong suit.

Neither was dodging.

"Ow!"

Irving had just gotten hit by a random shoe, thrown at him by his on-again, off-again, stuck-in-the-middle girlfriend Katie. He, in his infinite wisdom, had forgotten about the third date in a row with her. The reason?

...You can probably imagine.

"Katie! I can use the money we saved for building only a two-ton snowglobe to go somewhere nice! My treat!"

Nice attempt, buddy.

The blonde came back into his vision, armed with another shoe. "Oh yeah, and what about the last three weekends? You have enough money saved for _those_?"

Well, this wasn't working.

Irving looked both ways, trying to rack his mind with an idea. Then it came to him.

At about twenty miles an hour.

In the form of a baseball.

Luckily, he was able to dodge this one as he dove behind a tree. The cascade of balls continued for a comical amount of time.

"I thought you got rid of all of those for your Home Run badge!"

Not getting a response, he noticed a break in the action presumably for her to restock. Thinking quickly, he made his move.

Katie huffed another bag over to the window. "Irving Stuart DuBois, you are going to come out from behind that tree and I am going to make sure that-"

She craned her neck to try to find him around the yard, but to no avail. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"He's a sly one, that Irving."

She whirled around to see the self-proclaimed nerd, holding up his hands in defense. "How'd you-"

"Katie! Just listen for a second! Give your arm a rest!"

She didn't realize that her arm was already cocked back to throw another baseball at him. Not wanting to make a hole in her wall, she lowered her hand. "You have thirty seconds."

Irving didn't hesitate. "I'm really really sorry about everything. I was going to come over _right _after Phineas and I were done with the project, but we had to calibrate some extra mechanics into it."

"You're not doing a very good job," Katie interrupted. "Oh yeah, and you have ten seconds."

"Look, I didn't mean to blow you off. I promise I'm going to make it up to you next time, I swear. Please don't be mad at me."

Katie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm...not mad at you."

"The barrage of sports items a few moments ago disagrees with you." The mad glare from the blonde shut Irving up instantly. "Sorry, go on."

Katie took a step closer to him. "I just don't understand how you can constantly do wonders with your memory with him and you can't even take five seconds to take into account your _girlfriend_. It boggles my mind."

Irving grabbed her hands, if only to keep them in his line of sight. "We've been working on a bunch of cool stuff. You'll learn soon enough."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

He hastily changed the subject. "Look, I know what we'll do. After school, we'll go down to the pier. I'll pay. You don't have to do a thing."

"...Really?"

"Yes, really."

Now the smile was coming back. "How about tomorrow? We can go after I meet for my college advising."

Irving scratched the back of his head. "Tomorrow may not be good for me. You see, Phin-"

The death stare from her quickly jettisoned any thought of finishing that sentence.

"Tomorrow. I swear."

Katie smirked ever so slightly. "OK, you can leave now."

"Hmm?"

Irving now noticed that he hadn't walked as far into the room as he thought. With a quick shove, Katie removed him from her room, closing the door in his face. Finally with some breathing room, he wiped the dirt off of his shirt.

"You think you can not throw stuff at me tomorrow?"

"...I can't make any promises."

As always, Katie had to get the last word.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hey, at least I didn't go for a deflation joke.

Super Bowl. Anyone?

I think some people are still bitter about that. Moving on.

This one was tricky. I always like to remind myself that some relationships (like I write these two) are not always puppies and rainbows. Sometimes, it's throwing things. And forgetfulness. I would imagine Irving's fixation on the stepbrothers would start to affect things once he gets older. Including his girlfriend, Katie.

Plus, this is a situation I would imagine myself getting into. Because I'm so great at relationships. That's the joke.

...Next chapter's later today. Read and review, as per usual.


	12. Lie To Me

_**Disclaimer:**__ I love chocolate._

_...No, I don't have anything else to put here. Why would you ask?_

* * *

_**Chapter 11 – Lie To Me**_

"_Love is knowledge. It's about who you know and what you know...and it's also about what you don't."_

He hadn't seen her all day.

Normally, Ferb would at least count on her to be roaming the cafeteria and occasionally swap by his table for a quick chat.

Nothing.

He took a quick look at his phone, seeing if she had sent him anything.

Nothing.

For days she had talked about the trip she would be taking with her parents to England. It was her first realy trip out of the country, and she would spend hours chatting Ferb's ear off about the culture and the sights and whatnot.

He would know. He did live there for a long period of time. He was glad for her.

But the amount of silence that was coming from Gretchen was somewhat disconcerting.

Not to mention the fact that this was suppose to be her last day at school before her departure, and she wasn't anywhere to be found.

Ferb had decided to take his mind off of things by going to the science lab after school. It was always a thrill to try out some random combinations of chemicals (as long as nothing exploded), and it was a quiet place to think (besides said explosions).

He was just about to jot another note about the bouncing green liquid he had concocted when he heard a screech.

He looked up from his experiment. It sounded like it was coming from the room next door, which normally housed the photography classroom. Why would someone be over there after school?

Never mind the fact that _he_ was there after school.

Ferb quickly packed up his supplies and took the short trip over to the neighboring class room. As he eased the door open, another loud noise came from behind the dark room door.

It was probably just an equipment malfunction. He should have just let a teacher know in the morning. But what if it was something he could fix?

He rotated the door around, stepped inside, and started turning the door back toward the interior. Now he could hear other noises inside, some he couldn't quite place.

The darkroom came into view. The stations for developing the film were all empty, sans for one occupant.

"Ferb!"

He almost recoiled in shock. There she was, plain as day. She had protective gear on, a wet photo in a pair of tongs in her hand.

"Gretchen, what are you doing here?"

"...No reason?"

There most definitely was a reason. Ferb looked around to see countless photos of the landscape of England, all of them blown up on paper, presumably by the Fireside Girl troop member.

"What is all this? Aren't you suppose to be on your way to England right now?"

Even in the darkness, he could feel Gretchen getting nervous. "I...actually went already."

Ferb raised an eyebrow. OK, now he was confused.

Gretchen put her photo back into the tub, her voice going very fast. "I wanted to get you a really cool birthday present, so I was going to make a collage of all of the places you used to visit in England. Katie gave me the idea not too long ago, and accommodations were made so I could leave school for a short period of time to do so. But I didn't want you to find out, so...Ms. Leica let me use the classroom after school."

"I honestly don't know whether to feel angry or happy right now."

"But Ferb, look!" Gretchen spread her arms wide. "I did this for you! I wanted you to have something from home. I did a immeasurable amount of research on this."

"You didn't tell me the truth."

"Ferb, I..." She didn't know what to say. "It was going to be a surprise. I didn't mean to upset you."

He walked over to the wall, taking note of all of the locales. "I know that you would not lie to hurt my feelings. I'm not mad about that." He turned to look at her. "I just wish you didn't have to lie to me to begin with."

"I'm sorry, Ferb. I should've known better not to outsmart the smartest guy in school."

He grinned, relaxing for the first time since entering. "Flattery will get you nowhere, milady."

"Will a collage of England get me somewhere?"

"...Perhaps."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This was the worst chapter to write, because this was the one that I didn't have the most definitive idea about what to write. So apologies if this seems a little rushed.I might go back and update it further, but alas. They can't all be winners.

But man, Ferb is sure getting the short end of the stick this go-around, isn't he?

In case the inquisitive young chap (or gal) says anything about this in comparison to _Act Your Age_, these chapters have been in place for...two years? With the exception of Monty filling in for Johnny, everything else is the same. I just hadn't written it yet.

Because I'm lazy.

Saturday will be the finale, because I completely forgot that it was on that day and not Friday. Also, I still can't count to twelve.

See you tomorrow for the finale. Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	13. Stop This World

_**Disclaimer: **__All characters of Phineas and Ferb are the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and the Disney Channel. I'm pretty sure Valentine's Day is owned by Hershey at this point._

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_**Chapter 12 - Stop This World**_

_"Love is timeless. It does not pause. It does not stop. It does not falter. Even though the time with our loved ones may be short, the moments and feelings that we have and share are anything but."_

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Isabella curled up in the bed, the early morning sunlight hitting her closed eyes.

She didn't want to get up.

She wanted to stay inside forever.

It was just the night before that he and her husband settled in their brand new home. The marriage ceremony had been quick, and the honeymoon had been short. But Isabella didn't care. She was with the man she loved.

Speaking of which...

She reached over to snuggle into the back of her husband, wanting to capture just a few more minutes of bliss.

And hit nothing but mattress.

Isabella straightened up, confused. She took a quick glance at the alarm clock. 7:30. He was known to be an early riser, but even this was a little ridiculous.

The smell of melting metal was just beginning to waft into the room. Things never change, Isabella thought. Even marriage didn't get in the way of his Big Ideas.

Although did he really have to start now?

She quickly got out of bed, throwing her nightgown over herself. It was no time at all before she walked out to the backyard, where a large metal cylinder was standing right in the middle of it. Kneeled before it was a man with a torch, sending up sparks with his metalwork.

Isabella smirked. Yep, this was the man she married.

She walked over to him, lightly tapping him on the shoulder.

"Phineas, what on Earth are you doing?"

"Oh. Hey, Isabella." The redhead lowered his blowtorch and raised the cover of his welder's mask. "I didn't hear you get up."

"That was probably because you couldn't hear an elephant go through the backyard, let alone anything else."

"Fair enough." He stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I was just about done anyway."

"I'm afraid to ask, but...what is this thing?"

"I'm glad you asked." Phineas took of his mask as he looked his contraption up and down. "This is our brand new time machine."

Isabella looked at him, now even more confused. "You didn't try to spring for the one that's still at the museum?"

"Nope, that one's been gone for a while. I think Ferb has it."

"What?"

"Anywho..." Phineas interrupted his wife. "I have a plan. We're going to use this time machine to travel back to right before our wedding. Then, we can continuously enjoy that week over and over again. It's foolproof."

"I...don't think that's how time travel works," Isabella said.

"C'mon, Isabella," Phineas pleaded. "It'll be fun. We'll go back and revisit our toasts, watch Baljeet attempt to dance with Ginger, watch Ferb trying to avoid both Vanessa and Gretchen at the same time. We don't need anything else."

Isabella's look was incredulous. "Phineas, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but this is the worst idea in the world."

"What do you mean?"

"You just want to live the same week over and over again?"

"What? Don't you?"

For a single second, Isabella wanted to shake him. "Phineas, don't you want to imagine the rest of our lives? Why would you want to just do the same thing over and over?"

"Because it was the best week of my life!"

Isabella stood still, hands on her hips. "And mine as well."

"So why-"

He never got the question out, as she had placed her finger over his mouth, cutting him off.

"Because we're going to miss all of the rest of the things that we'll love in the future if we just live in the present."

She held up her other hand, the wedding ring shining bright in the morning dawn.

"Imagine everything that we'll miss. Kids, growing old together, you doing wheelchair races with Ferb in the retirement home. We're never going to see that if we do this."

She stepped up to him, leaning against his frame. "I love you, Phineas. And as your wife, I'm telling you that this is a terrible idea. I haven't spent the last fifteen plus years trying to get your attention just so that I can get stuck in an infinite time loop."

Phineas put his hands around her body, bringing her closer. He didn't say anything immediately, although Isabella could tell that he was definitely pondering his response.

"Besides, Phineas, I can't exactly go off messing with the fabric of time. Who knows what that'll do to the baby?"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want anything to hap-"

And that's when for the first time in history, Phineas's brain stopped.

Isabella smiled as her husband's face went from dumbstruck to incredulous to confused to several other multi-syllabled words all in the span of about four seconds.

"What?"

And that word was only one.

"Yes, Phineas." Isabella slipped her hand into his, interlocking their fingers. "I'm going to have a baby, and you are going to be there for your daughter and not going to be gorging on wedding cake for a bazillion times."

Emotion started coming back to the redhead's face. "How...how do you know it's a girl?"

"Call it women's intuition."

Phineas reeled back, dumbstruck. Isabella was almost forced to catch him. She wanted him to say something, anything. It looked like, under all of the shock, he was happy...and thinking about something.

Uh oh.

"We have to start thinking of a name."

"Phineas!" Isabella yelled. She should've known this was coming. "I think we have a little bit of time before that happens."

"I wonder if something like Marie would work. Or Olivia. Or Fiona..." Phineas put his finger on his chin, thinking for a moment. "Oh, I got it!"

"Hmm?"

"I can turn this into a subatomic name generator! I just need to find the nanobots first!" He ran off toward the garage. "Let me go grab my toolkit!"

Isabella watched as he turned the corner. Grinning, she shook her head slightly. Yup, this was the man that she married. Thoughtful, caring...and always looking for the next Big Idea.

She looked down at her stomach, patting it lightly. "That, sweetheart, is your father. I apologize in about ten years when he starts infuriating you. But trust me, everything he does..."

She glanced back at the giant metal cylinder behind her, and smiled.

"It's all in the name of love."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I wonder how many people I got to read the entirety of this just to get to the Phinbella chapter. For those who have, your patience is very much appreciated.

Yes, this was always going to be the last chapter. Yes, I'm a cruel person. But you guys have had the episode on Monday. I figured you can hang on for a bit.

All in all, for being out of writing for a good year or so, I think I've done pretty well, and I'm glad that the majority of people agreed.

If this story tells you anything, it's that love is not really set in stone. It comes in many styles, many flavors, and many ways. There is no wrong way, and there is no right way. It's all up to the people to figure it out.

I would like to thank everyone who left a review for this story, as well as the people who sent me warm wishes after being gone for so long. Trust me, it's been hard to be away for so long. But I'm glad that you guys make it feel like I've never left.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, ladies and gents.


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